Soil water repellency is a common phenomenon in natural and anthropogenic soils. Soil water repellency is temporally highly variable and known to be affected by various factors such as soil management, type of vegetation, vegetation fires, and the actual moisture state of the soil including moisture history. As a consequence, near‐surface soil hydraulic properties are in a constant state of change under various temporal scales. Soil water repellency can have dramatic consequences for soil erosion and to the formation of preferential flow paths, which increase the threat of surface and groundwater pollution posed by the use of agrichemicals and organic fertilizers. Consideration of temporal dynamics of soil hydraulic properties due to varying soil water repellency in calculations of water balance or simulation of flow and transport through soil poses a considerable challenge. Quantification of the corresponding hydrologic property dynamics requires physically‐based models and experimental data evaluated under defined conditions.

This session invites contributions with experimental, conceptual or numerical focus that aim to improve our understanding and the quantification of soil water repellency and associated temporal changes of hydraulic properties of soils. Laboratory experiments as well as field studies are welcome to evaluate physical parameters that allow a better modeling treatment of the phenomenon.